The present invention generally relates to power generating systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for energy storage, generation and control.
As the burning of fossil fuels for energy degrades the environment even as its costs rise, and as nuclear power continues to raise substantial questions of safety, the use of sunlight and wind energy to provide electric power for the world takes on ever-increasing significance. These so-called “green” technologies have passed through the stage of innocence, and are taking on ever-larger roles in satisfying man kind's appetite for new sources of electrical power. While the promise of ecologically friendly electrical power is bright, the nature of such power, and the technologies for producing it, are largely dependent upon nature and the vagaries of wind and weather, with the result that nearly all such power generation methods must be supported by a substantial ability to provide power, regardless of local conditions of nature. In most cases, fossil fuels continue to provide power in the sufficiently large and reliable quantities required for normal business and social activities.
Wind farms currently produce approximately 2% of the earth's electrical power, with European countries leading in the proportion of electricity being produced from wind turbines. In order for wind power to be a stable source, however, generation strategies must be employed to provide sustainable output sufficient to meet instantaneous demand—and to vary such output as demand rises and falls. Fortunately, over time, instantaneous demand may be anticipated with a high degree of accuracy, barring unforeseen circumstances and anomalies that may affect the delivery of electricity to locations remote from the site of its generation. However, the other side of the equation requires the stable generation and delivery of electricity in quantities sufficient to meet, but not substantially exceed, the instantaneous demand. Further complicating the situation is the transmission grid over which electricity must be delivered, and the marketplace nature of electrical generation in which the price a distribution utility will pay for electricity from a generating facility may vary from moment to moment. For the most part, electricity is bought and sold through short term contracts that may have a life from as little as a few hours to as much as a few months, with the largest number being of 30 days duration or so. As a result of the fluctuating price of electricity, a power generation facility may be required to curtail the amount of power it delivers to a transmission or distribution utility, with the consequence of having to pay money to the facility in the event that too much electricity is delivered. Thus, from the standpoint of power generation, there is a strong incentive to generate and sell electricity using the most efficient means, while curtailing production when more is being generated than has been sold. In that case, if excess electricity is being generated efficiently through solar or wind facilities, it may be desirable to store it until demand is greater or prices rise, at which point electricity may be sold from storage, either to meet peak demands or because it was generated at a time when the cost of generating was lower. Thus, an electricity generating company will seek to produce electricity when its cost for doing so is lowest, and will sell electricity when the cost is highest, all the while meeting its contractual obligations to provide an agreed upon amount at agreed upon times without providing more than called for by the transmission and distribution utility.
The continued and expanding use of fossil fuels cannot be sustained into the indefinite future. Indeed, as fossil fuels begin to price themselves out of the energy market, and as the availability and efficiency of renewable energy increases, greater emphasis will be placed upon the secure and reliable generation of electrical power from environmentally friendly sources. What is needed, then, is a system and method for reliably providing wind and solar energy on a scale that is suitable for commercial and industrial use, and without the specter of blackouts, brownouts, or other interruptions in power due to intermittent failures of wind or sunlight.